COVID-19 impacts cause $3.75M in county budget adjustments
No new vehicle purchases for coming fiscal year

Phil Bourdon, county administrator, speaks at the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors meeting Wednesday, May 6, 2020. (Screenshot of meeting)

Phil Bourdon, county administrator, speaks at the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors meeting Wednesday, May 6, 2020. (Screenshot of meeting)

From patrol cars in the Sheriff’s Office to trucks in the Public Works Department, vehicles are the “lifeblood” for many of Yavapai County’s operations.

But for the coming fiscal year, COVID-19-related impacts will cause the county to defer purchases of new vehicles. During a meeting on Wednesday, May 6, the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors agreed to delay its usual round of vehicle replacements.

That is just one of the county budget adjustments expected in coming weeks because of a drop in sales tax and state-shared revenues caused by the COVID shut-down.

County Administrator Phil Bourdon told the supervisors in late April that revenues are expected to be down by about $3.7 million for the final four months of the current 2019/2020 fiscal year that ends on June 30.

Estimates for the coming fiscal year are still to come.

Meanwhile, Bourdon said his major concern was to deliver a balanced budget to the supervisors for the 2020/2021 fiscal year, which begins on July 1.

On Wednesday, he took two ideas to the board to advance that goal.

RECOMMENDED ADJUSTMENTS

Among the recommendations was a delay in new-vehicle purchases. Bourdon explained that for the past four or five years, the county has allocated about $2.5 million per year toward the purchase of new vehicles.

For the coming year, the county originally had proposed spending $2.7 million on new vehicles.

The idea to delay new-car purchases initially generated some concern among supervisors, who worried that the move would cause the county to fall behind on its vehicle-replacement cycle.

Board Chairman Craig Brown cautioned that week, “Vehicles are our lifeblood for all of our operations.”

But Bourdon noted that he had since consulted with new Fleet Management Director Michael Carr, who had indicated that pushing off new-vehicle purchases for a year was workable.

“(Carr) thought we were well-positioned on our fleet to sustain the year of not purchasing new vehicles,” Bourdon said.

After adjusting some line items in the Fleet Management budget, Bourdon said he and Carr had come up with a possible savings of $2.5 million in the coming fiscal year from deferred car purchases. The board unanimously approved the move.

“We’ve been on a very aggressive cycle on vehicles,” Bourdon explained after the meeting, noting that the county had been budgeting $2.5 million a year for vehicle replacements since the end of the Great Recession in 2014/2015.

A MORE FLEXIBLE BUDGET

Along with its delay in car purchases, the board also agreed to a transfer of $1.25 million from the County Flood Control budget to the general fund.

Bourdon said state law allows small counties (of less than 250,000 population) to make such transfers to give them more flexibility in budgeting.

The $1.25 million likely will come largely from the money that the county typically distributes to cities and towns, Bourdon said.

While both adjustments will be reassessed as the fiscal year progresses, Bourdon said the additional $3.75 million would help to balance the budget.

“These are uncertain times, and we want to take every opportunity to bolster your general fund,” he told the supervisors.

Brown agreed, noting, “This creates a budget that has flexibility.”

During the April 27 budget hearing, the board had deferred several other budget-related matters as well, including whether to move ahead with scheduled 2% cost-of-living raises and 1% merit raises for employees.

The board also put off a decision on whether to postpone its $4.5 million additional payment to the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS) until later in the fiscal year. The annual payment is in addition to the $4 million that the county is required to pay to the PSPRS each year.

Bourdon said this week that the remaining budget issues likely would come up during the county’s coming meetings on May 20, June 3, and June 17.

This week’s supervisors’ meeting was held digitally and livestreamed online because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. That scenario is likely to continue while the county’s state of emergency remains in effect.

Follow Cindy Barks on Twitter @Cindy_Barks. Reach her at 928-445-3333, ext. 2034, or cbarks@prescottaz.com.


Donate Report a Typo Contact
Most Read